Lessons in diversityUH is the first school in Texas to offer a minor concentration in GLBT studies

Published 5:30 am, Monday, October 20, 2008

University of Houston junior Melanie Pang has changed her minor to reflect a new program that offers gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender studies. The UH program will begin in spring 2009.

University of Houston junior Melanie Pang has changed her minor to reflect a new program that offers gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender studies. The UH program will begin in spring 2009.

Photo: SHARÓN STEINMANN, CHRONICLE

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Melanie Pang has participated in educational events and political theater as a leader in a University of Houston campus group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.

Next spring, she'll move that interest into the academic arena.

Pang plans to be among the first students enrolled when the university begins offering a minor concentration in GLBT studies, the only college in Texas to do so.

"We thought it was necessary to recognize the scholarly importance of GLBT people and their contributions," said Guillermo De Los Reyes, assistant professor of Latin American studies and director of the new program.

The program won't be a support group for students who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, but an academic exploration of that community, he said.

"There are other spaces where students can go ... to organize a rally," he said. "For us, it would be to study the impact."

Many schools offer courses in the subject. Four public Texas universities offer bachelor's degrees in gender studies or women's studies, a discipline that gave rise to the more specialized field.

Interdisciplinary study

Kevin Lemoine
, director of academic programs for the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
, said the small number of programs likely reflects student demand and work force needs. "There's no direct work-force correlate for someone who has a bachelor's in gender studies," he said.

Maybe not, although De Los Reyes said a better understanding of the complexity of human nature is useful in many fields.

"The business world and the professional world ... (are) composed not only of heterosexual people," he said. "This is something that will give the student the tools to make decisions in the professional world."

But Pang, 22, wasn't looking for career advancement when she lobbied her UH professors about offering the minor.

"I didn't change my minor with the intention of it becoming a lucrative thing," she said. She intends to find work in her major, which is journalism.

GLBT studies will simply enrich her college experience, she said.

The new academic concentration will be interdisciplinary, involving faculty and courses from departments including English, history and sociology, De Los Reyes said.

Two new courses will be added to the curriculum, including an introductory sophomore-level course that he will teach and a senior level research course.

Students also will choose from other classes already being offered — including Sex and Culture, Queer Theory, History of Private Life, and Sexuality and Society.

De Los Reyes predicts about 20 students will take the introductory class next spring, about 15 of whom will declare the field as their minor.

Broad range of students

Women's studies, also offered at UH as a minor, now draws male students. De Los Reyes said he expects the new concentration will eventually draw a broad range of students, as well.

That's partly because society is more open to diverse lifestyles, he said.

"I think now GLBT topics are becoming part of the everyday conversation," he said.

It's also a reflection of people acknowledging their sexuality at a younger age, he said.

Still, most students in the A&M class that Kane teaches, Contemporary Queer Culture, are straight, he said.

"I think there's a significant interest we're seeing from the heterosexual community about how GLBT people have been perceived," he said.

Personal relevance

The resource center at A&M opened a year ago. Kane said he ultimately hopes to see that university offer a minor concentration in GLBT studies.

"If we are truly preparing our students to be global citizens, and I think that is one of the main intentions of a university, they have to be prepared to work in diverse environments," he said.

But the classes may have personal relevance, as well.

Pang, who describes herself as bisexual, is president of GLOBAL, an alliance for GLBT students at UH.

"I think it's important I gain a good understanding of every aspect of the GLBT community, seeing as how I'm supposed to be a leader," she said. "I feel like it will be relevant to me for the rest of my life."

jeannie.kever@chron.com

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